Geobiology最新文献

The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis during the Archean (4–2.5 Ga) required the presence of complementary reducing pathways to maintain the cellular redox balance. While the timing of the evolution of superoxide dismutases (SODs), enzymes that convert superoxide to hydrogen peroxide and O₂, within bacteria and archaea is not resolved, the first SODs appearing in cyanobacteria contained copper and zinc in the reaction center (CuZnSOD). Here, we analyse growth characteristics, SOD gene expression (qRT-PCR) and cellular enzyme activity in the deep branching strain, Pseudanabaena sp. PCC7367, previously demonstrated to release significantly more O₂ under anoxic conditions. The observed significantly higher growth rates (p < 0.001) and protein and glycogen contents (p < 0.05) in anoxically cultured Pseudanabaena PCC7367 compared to control cultures grown under present-day oxygen-rich conditions prompted the following question: Is the growth of Pseudanabaena sp. PCC7367 correlated to atmospheric pO₂ and cellular SOD activity? Expression of sodB (encoding FeSOD) and sodC (encoding CuZnSOD) strongly correlated with medium O₂ levels (p < 0.001). Expression of sodA (encoding MnSOD) correlated significantly to SOD activity during the day (p = 0.019) when medium O₂ concentrations were the highest. The cellular SOD enzyme activity of anoxically grown cultures was significantly higher (p < 0.001) 2 h before the onset of the dark phase compared to O₂-rich growth conditions. The expression of SOD encoding genes was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) under anoxic conditions in stirred cultures, as were medium O₂ levels (p ≤ 0.001), compared to oxic-grown cultures, whereas total cellular SOD activity remained comparable. Our data suggest that increasing pO₂ negatively impacts the viability of early cyanobacteria, possibly by increasing photorespiration. Additionally, the increased expression of superoxide-inactivating genes during the dark phase suggests the increased replacement rates of SODs under modern-day conditions compared to those on early Earth.

Banded iron formations (BIFs) are chemical sedimentary rocks commonly utilized for exploring the chemistry and redox state of the Precambrian ocean. Despite their significance, many aspects regarding the crystallization pathways of iron oxides in BIFs remain loosely constrained. In this study, we combine magnetic properties characterization with high-resolution optical and electron imaging of finely laminated BIFs from the 2.7 Ga Carajás Formation, Brazil, to investigate their nature and potential for preserving ancient environmental conditions. Our findings reveal that magnetite, in the form of large 0.1–0.5 mm crystals, is the main iron oxide, with an overall averaged saturation magnetization (M_s) of 25 Am²/kg (corresponding to ~27 wt% of magnetite) over the studied 230 m of the sequence. Nevertheless, the non-negligible contribution of minerals with higher coercivity suggests variable proportions of hematite along the core. Additionally, we observe non-uniform behavior in magnetite grains, with distinct populations identified through low-temperature measurements of the Verwey transition. Petrographic observations indicate that the original sediment was an Fe–Si mud consisting of a ferrihydrite–silica mixture formed in the water column. This assemblage was rapidly transformed into nano-scale hematite embedded in silica as indicated by a honeycomb structure composed of Si-spherules distributed in a microscale hematite matrix. Textural relationships show that the nucleation of magnetite started during or soon after the formation of hematite, as indicated by the preservation of the Si-spherules within magnetite cores. Further magnetite overgrowth stages are characterized by inclusion-free rims, associated with continuous Si supply during the evolving diagenetic or early metamorphic stages. These findings, combined with existing literature, suggest that ferrihydrite precipitated alongside Si and organic material, later crystallizing as hematite on the seafloor. Anaerobic respiration by Fe(III)-reducing microorganisms likely contributed to early magnetite formation in a fluid-saturated, unconsolidated sediment. Subsequent low-grade metamorphism and Si mobilization led to palisade quartz precipitation and a second stage of magnetite growth likely formed at the expense of matrix hematite through thermochemical Fe(III) reduction. Low-temperature magnetic analyses revealed that the two generations of magnetite core and rim are associated with specific stoichiometry.

Due to their fast precipitation rate, sulfate evaporites represent excellent repositories of past life on Earth and potentially on other solid planets. Nevertheless, the preservation potential of biogenic remains can be compromised by extremely fast early diagenetic processes. The upper Miocene, gypsum-bearing sedimentary successions of the Mediterranean region, that formed ca. 6 million years ago during the Messinian salinity crisis, represent an excellent case study for investigating these diagenetic processes at the expense of organic matter and associated biominerals. Several gypsum crystals from the Northern Mediterranean were studied by means of destructive and non-destructive techniques in order to characterize their solid inclusion content and preservation state. In the same crystal, excellently preserved microfossils coexist with strongly altered biogenic remains. Altered remains are associated with authigenic minerals, especially clays. The results demonstrate that a significant fraction of organic matter and associated biominerals (notably biogenic silica) underwent early diagenetic modification. The latter was likely triggered by bottom sulfidic conditions when the growth of gypsum was interrupted. These results have significant implications for the interpretation of the Messinian Salt Giant.

The majority of large iron formations (IFs) were deposited leading up to Earth's great oxidation episode (GOE). Following the GOE, IF deposition decreased for almost 500 Myr. Subsequently, around 1.88 Ga, there was widespread deposition of shallow-water granular iron formations (GIF) within a geologically short time interval, which has been linked to enhanced iron (Fe) supply to seawater from submarine hydrothermal venting associated with the emplacement of large igneous provinces. Previous studies of Fe-rich, microfossil-bearing stromatolites from the ca. 1.88 Ga Gunflint Formation on the Superior craton suggested direct microbial oxidation of seawater Fe²⁺_(aq) by microaerophilic, Fe-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB), as a driver of GIF deposition. Although Fe-rich, microfossil-bearing stromatolites are common in 1.88 Ga GIF deposits on several cratons, combined paleontological and geochemical studies have been applied only to the Gunflint Formation. Here, we present new paleontological and geochemical observations for the ca. 1.89 Ga Gibraltar Formation GIFs from the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. Fossil morphology, Rare Earth element (REE) concentrations, and Fe isotopic compositions support Fe oxidation by FeOB at a redoxcline poised above the fair-weather wave base. Small positive Eu anomalies and positive ε_Nd (1.89 Ga) values suggest upwelling of deep, Fe-rich, hydrothermally influenced seawater. While high [Fe²⁺_(aq)] combined with low atmospheric pO₂ in the late Paleoproterozoic would have provided optimal conditions in shallow oceans for FeOB to precipitate Fe oxyhydroxide, these redox conditions were likely toxic to cyanobacteria. As long as local O₂ production by cyanobacteria was strongly diminished, FeOB would have had to rely on an atmospheric O₂ supply by diffusion to shallow seawater to oxidize Fe²⁺_(aq). Using a 1-D reaction dispersion model, we calculate [O_2(aq)] sufficient to deplete an upwelling Fe²⁺_(aq) source. Our results for GIF deposition are consistent with late Paleoproterozoic pO₂ estimates of ~1%–10% PAL and constraints for metabolic [O_2(aq)] requirements for modern FeOB. Widespread GIF deposition at ca. 1.88 Ga appears to mark a temporally restricted episode of optimal biogeochemical conditions in Earth's history when increased hydrothermal Fe²⁺_(aq) sourced from the deep oceans, in combination with low mid-Paleoproterozoic atmospheric pO₂, globally satisfied FeOB metabolic Fe²⁺_(aq) and O_2(aq) requirements in shallow-marine subtidal environments above the fair-weather wave base.

Silicified peritidal carbonates of the Tonian Draken Formation, Spitsbergen, contain highly diverse and well-preserved microfossil assemblages dominated by filamentous microbial mats, but also including diverse benthic and/or allochthonous (possibly planktonic) microorganisms. Here, we characterize eight morphospecies in focused ion beam (FIB) ultrathin sections using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectromicroscopy. Raman and XANES spectroscopies show the highly aromatic molecular structure of preserved organic matter. Despite this apparently poor molecular preservation, nano-quartz crystallization allowed for the preservation of various ultrastructures distinguished in TEM. In some filamentous microfossils (Siphonophycus) as well as in all cyanobacterial coccoids, extracellular polysaccharide sheaths appear as bands of dispersed organic nanoparticles. Synodophycus microfossils, made up of pluricellular colonies of coccoids, contain organic walls similar to the F-layers of pleurocapsalean cyanobacteria. In some fossils, internal content occurs as particulate organic matter, forming dense networks throughout ghosts of the intracellular space (e.g., in Salome svalbardensis filaments), or scarce granules (in some Chroococcales). In some chroococcalean microfossils (Gloeodiniopsis mikros, and also possibly Polybessurus), we find layered internal contents that are more continuous than nanoparticulate bands defining the sheaths, and with a shape that can be contracted, folded, or invaginated. We interpret these internal layers as the remains of cell envelope substructures and/or photosynthetic membranes thickened by additional cellular material. Some Myxococccoides show a thick (up to ~ 0.9 μm) wall ultrastructure displaying organic pillars that is best reconciled with a eukaryotic affinity. Finally, a large spheroid with ruptured wall, of uncertain affinity, displays a bi-layered envelope. Altogether, our nanoscale investigations provide unprecedented insights into the taphonomy and taxonomy of this well-preserved assemblage, which can help to assess the nature of organic microstructures in older rocks.

The response of soil carbon to climate change and anthropogenic forcing depends on the relationship between the physicochemical variables of the environment and microbial communities. In anoxic soils that store large amounts of organic carbon, it can be hypothesized that the low amount of catabolic energy available leads microbial organisms to minimize the energy costs of biosynthesis, which may shape the composition of microbial communities. To test this hypothesis, thermodynamic modeling was used to assess the link between redox gradients in the ombrotrophic peatland of the Marcell Experimental Forest (Minnesota, USA) and the chemical and taxonomic composition of microbial communities. The average amino acid composition of community-level proteins, called hereafter model proteins, was calculated from shotgun metagenomic sequencing. The carbon oxidation state of model proteins decreases linearly from −0.14 at 10 cm depth to −0.17 at 150 cm depth. Calculating equilibrium activities of model proteins for a wide range of chemical conditions allows identification of the redox potential of maximum chemical activity. Consistent with redox measurements across peat soils, this model Eh decreases logarithmically from an average value of 300 mV at 10 cm depth, close to the stability domain of goethite relative to Fe²⁺, to an average value of −200 mV at 150 cm, within the stability domain of CH₄ relative to CO₂. The correlation identified between the taxonomic abundance and the carbon oxidation state of model proteins enables predicting the evolution of taxonomic abundance as a function of model Eh. The model taxonomic abundance is consistent with the measured gene and taxonomic abundance, which evolves from aerobic bacteria at the surface including Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Verrumicrobia, to anaerobes at depth dominated by Crenarchaeota. These results indicate that the thermodynamic forcing imposed by redox gradient across peat soils shapes both the chemical and taxonomic composition of microbial communities. By providing a mechanistic understanding of the relationship between microbial community and environmental conditions, this work sheds new light on the mechanisms that govern soil microbial life and opens up prospects for predicting geochemical and microbial evolution in changing environments.

Cover

The cover image is based on the Article A Biofilm Channel Origin for Vermiform Microstructure in Carbonate Microbialites by Yadira Ibarra et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/gbi.12623

The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis in Cyanobacteria was a transformative event in Earth's history. However, the scientific community disagrees over the duration of the delay between the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis and oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere, with estimates ranging from less than a hundred thousand to more than a billion years, depending on assumptions about rates of oxygen production and fluxes of reductants. Here, we propose a novel ecological hypothesis that a geologically significant delay could have been caused by biomolecular inefficiencies within proto-Cyanobacteria—ancestors of modern Cyanobacteria—that limited their maximum rates of oxygen production. Consideration of evolutionary processes and genomic data suggest to us that proto-cyanobacterial primary productivity was initially limited by photosystem instability, oxidative damage, and photoinhibition rather than nutrients or ecological competition. We propose that during the Archean era, cyanobacterial photosystems experienced protracted evolution, with biomolecular inefficiencies initially limiting primary productivity and oxygen production. Natural selection led to increases in efficiency and thus primary productivity through time. Eventually, evolutionary advances produced sufficient biomolecular efficiency that environmental factors, such as nutrient availability, limited primary productivity and shifted controls on oxygen production from physiological to environmental limitations. If correct, our novel hypothesis predicts a geologically significant interval of time between the first local oxygen production and sufficient production for oxygenation of environments. It also predicts that evolutionary rates were likely highly variable due to strong environmental selection pressures and potentially high mutation rates but low competitive interactions.